I liked the movie a lot. I'm definitely going to see it again this week, and I'll probably like it more and more each time. I even cried more than I thought I would. I cry at movies all the time, and I was completely expecting it because of the nature of the story, but....this time it started in the opening credits with Silhouette's murder, and kept going sporadically until the end. The group being named "Watchmen" still annoyed me, but at least they didn't play it up. Also, the actors were pretty much incredible. I can't think of a better group of people for it. Especially Jackie Earl Haley. Goddamn, son. His facial expressions alone made me bawl during his emotional moments. I swear, if they'd left in the scene where he goes back to his room to get his costume and looks at the little boy, I would have imploded. And yet, I still didn't think there was enough Rorschach. There wasn't enough of any of the characters, but I guess that's the nature of a story so complex being translated into a medium like cinema.

One thing I request of anyone who plans to see the movie and has not read the graphic novel: please don't judge the quality of the original story by the quality of the movie until you've read it. Even if you liked the movie. I've seen people doing this, and it's really unfortunate. In my opinion, one of the biggest differences between these two versions is that the movie doesn't quite live up to the hype, while the book does completely. Not that everyone who reads the book loves it, but an overwhelming number of people do. Certainly more than most stories. I dunno. It's kinda like judging a play by watching a single performance of it. I think Hamlet is one of the most incredible stories in western literature, but if I'd judged it by the first performance I ever saw without reading it, I wouldn't have been impressed at all because it wasn't a very good production. Wow, that thought was barely coherent.

Despite the problems, I think they did well considering the magnitude of the story/following and the constraints they were under. If I met Snyder now, I'd probably shake his hand and say "nice job".